Election set for May 6

Two women are campaigning against four men for one of three board seats on the Cortez Fire Protection District.

On April 1, The Cortez Journal emailed a questionnaire to all six candidates – Sherri Wright, James Kent Lindsay, Nick Randall, Diane Fox, Larry D. Sharp and Jerry Ayers. Wright, Fox and Lindsay were the only contenders to respond.

Each post is a four-year term.

Question 2 inquired what would be the top priorities of each candidate if elected.

Wright said her top priorities were safety, fiscal responsibility and meeting the public’s needs.

“We must keep the public and our firemen safe, and sometimes this means spending money,” said Wright, who has nearly two decades of board experience. “Fiscal responsibility is looking at what we need and getting it. This does not mean spending money foolishly, but spending it wisely.”

Fox said her priorities included ensuring the district’s solvency as well as continued and stable progress.

“Assuring that the district has a long-term plan to replace equipment, compensate employees and assure safety of personnel with needed and updated equipment and training,” said Fox, a retired Cortez Police Department employee.

Lindsay, current secretary and treasurer of the Cortez Fire Protection District, indicated he had three priorities: “To maintain budget oversight, create better communication within the board and keep the safety and well being of the firefighters a top priority.”

The polling place for the May 6 Cortez Fire Protection District election is Station 1, 30 N. Ash St. in Cortez.

The last day to request an absentee ballot for the election is Friday, May 2.

Applications for absentee ballots should be filed with Wendy Mimiaga at 23 N. Washington St.

Information: 970-565-3157.

Allocated a full week to complete the questionnaires, all the candidates were informed their responses were subject to editing due to space limitations in print, but all were promised each of the questionnaires would be published in their entirety online without editing. To view the candidate questionnaires, click on the links to this story at cortezjournal.com.